Vacabluary

[...] Art asks questions, design answers questions. Perniclas Bedow

I’m very interested in economics, because graphic design is a part of it. Even though I mostly work for cultural institutions, my work has to “sell” as well. I don’t see myself as an “artist designer”. I even think that such an attitude is problematic. My work serves others, and my responsibility is to make this work function within the editorial and economic strategies of my clients. Therefore, I’m very interested in the dynamics of contemporary economics. Tetsuya Goto

Good graphic design is a visual artifact that functions. Beauty that doesn’t function is insufficient graphic design. It should be logical, beautiful, and functional at the same time. Tetsuya Goto

In the course of modernizing and westernizing Japanese culture, we also adopted aesthetic notions. But in the end, platonic ideas do not really correspond well with the Japanese mentality. Japanese people think more in terms of configurations. Kiyonori Muroga

For me, beauty means “purity”, which is simple, clear, and not polluted. I am drawn by it, especially because I am neither pure nor able to be pure. Kwangchul Kim

[…] traveling—being “on the road”—inspires me the most. And I mean this literally and figuratively. The unforeseen intrigues me. But also the aspect of traces—traces that one discovers and traces that one leaves. Designing a book is a form of traveling, through thoughts, impressions, and expressions. I love the idea that things I cannot control—things from the margins of my perception—leave traces in my design. Xiao Mage

In many ways, Britain is still struggling to define its post-colonial identity. The difficulties brought about by the recent recession have fuelled an anti-international mentality within certain facets of British society that we vehemently disagree with. A Practice for Everyday Life

I don’t think, that graphic design necessarily only exists within a capitalist system. There’s one graphic designer in South Korea, for example, who only focuses on designing school textbooks, improving usability to enhance learning. And our signage system for Chinatown in Bangkok is meant to improve daily (social) life.
I don’t, however, have any problems with capitalism. In fact, here in Thailand sometimes you can rely on commercial companies more than governmental institutions.
Maybe we should put it this way: Graphic design needs a certain prosperity in society. Without this fundament, people care more about earning money for the next meal or a minimum level of education. They don’t have energy left for the nuances of art or design. This is a problem we are still struggling with in Thailand. Vorathit (Tap) Kruavanichkit

The question, whether graphic design can change society, is in itself problematic, because it implies that graphic design is not a part of society. The question doesn’t acknowledge that graphic design is already a part of society, and any changes within graphic design could be a change in society too. If you think of social change only as ecological or political awareness campaigns, you are missing the point. Small changes in newspaper typeface, for example, can reflect social dynamics—this is social interaction. Min Choi

I don’t think graphic designers can change society, but they can change the design of society. Tetsuya Goto

Transparency and change are important notions for my work. As graphic designers, we have the responsibility to be truthful. Sometimes clients come to us with a heroic picture of themselves that they want us wrap a design around. We always try to analyze what is behind that desire and what a client’s real qualities are. We discuss these issues openly with our clients, because we believe that only transparency is viable in the long run.
Change is important to me because visual communication needs to be developed in Thailand. We have to enhance our visual tradition and communicative mindset by applying experiences and knowledge from the U.S. and Europe. Therefore, we always try to push boundaries in our work—we don’t go for the common, safe solution. Vorathit (Tap) Kruavanichkit

Claiming, that graphic design can change society, is too extreme. I do think that graphic design can be a part of social change. It can contribute to better understanding for one. Just think of the devastating flood here in Thailand a couple of years ago. No one really knew what was going on or what had caused this catastrophe. Then a group of designers came up with infographics that creatively illustrated the water levels and the flood paths in the city and how efforts were being taken to handle the situation. This really helped to prevent panic. Some of our designers joined the project too. Vorathit (Tap) Kruavanichkit

I’d like to postulate the possibility to change the society as a broader concept. These days “change” means not as much transformation as before, but as stated earlier, graphic design helps the younger generation to develop a voice in society. Kwangchul Kim

We sometimes state: Clarifying is our business and obscuring is our pleasure. With any given project, you have a mixture of clarity and obscurity—the clarity of principles as opposed to the obscurity of meaning, or the other way around. And we always try to find a risky and inspiring balance, because with this tension you create attention to the content. Min Choi

Generally speaking, collectivism—as the opposite of individualism—is relatively dominant in Korea, which surely comes from historical experiences. It is such a small land with lots of people, so its overpopulation also causes “over-socialization”, a typical Korean mentality. What is clear is that people here care too much about what others think and tend not to go against others’ expectations. The Korean War, a tragedy of the Cold War, also still affects the people. Korean society is still not quite flexible ideologically. Kwangchul Kim

Compromises are an integral part of graphic design, but I wouldn’t use the term “compromise”. Mutual involvement or participation are better descriptions for what I mean. As I said earlier, I don’t see myself as an artist. I’m not so interested in imposing my ideas on things or situations, but in bringing things, ideas, and people together. I don’t want to handcuff anyone. Nevertheless, I want to be taken seriously as a designer and mediator. Tetsuya Goto